The Connection Between World Events & Family Events in Middlesex

In Book One of Middlesex, world events and important, life-changing events for Cal’s family, occur simultaneously. Three significant examples of this are: When Desdemona and Lefty hug, the Turk’s invade Greece, Cal is conceived on Easter and Lefty has a stroke when Cal is being born. The world events (or even simultaneous family events) reflect the idea that the history of a people changes when a war occurs, just as the history of a family changes when a child is born, or a relationship is formed between two people.